Mr. Stéphane Perrault at the Procedure and House Affairs Committee

To be clear, the current law allows us to reach out to underage Canadians. The bill would allow us to ignore the age distinction. We would be able to reach out in high schools, or in CEGEP in Quebec, where you may find some 18-year-olds, without any worry about that. That's an improvement. It would allow us to hire youth to work at the polls. The two go hand in hand. I think the minister spoke about youth at the booth. That program was used not only in British Columbia but in other provincial jurisdictions like Nova Scotia and other jurisdictions. Every time it's been used, it's been a success. It shows young Canadians the way the system works. It makes them familiar with the system. If we can combine the recruitment of youth with civic education and preregistration, we'll now have several levers at our disposal to improve youth understanding of the importance of voting, the mechanics of voting, and getting them engaged in the process.